Following the historic adoption of the nuclear weapons ban treaty at the UN Conference in NYC, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on July 8 released their statements welcoming the adoption.

Full texts of the two organizations’ statements are as follows:

Nihon Hidankyo
Statement on the Adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons:
--ForAchieving the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Desired by the Hibakusha for 72 Years--
July 8, 2017
Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations
(Nihon Hidankyo)

We the survivors of the atomic bombing are overcome with joy by the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations. For 72 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and 61 years since Nihon Hidankyo was founded, we have appealed that there should be no more Hibakusha like us. We share our joy with many of the deceased who are only recorded as numbers, with many forerunners who have been involved in the movement and with our supporters both in Japan and internationally.

The Treaty’s Preamble, which refers to the “unacceptable suffering of and harm caused to the victims of the use of nuclear weapons (hibakusha)”, clearly expresses the inhumanity brought about by a single nuclear bomb.

Many people lost their lives instantly without knowing what had happened. The sufferings of the Hibakusha who managed to survive on that day are profound and still continue –death of their loved ones; survivors’ guilt; scenes, sounds, voices and smell of that day burned into memory; illnesses of unknown cause; economic hardships; prejudice and discrimination in society and many given-up dreams. They forced the survivors under the mushroom cloud irrespective of their race, nationality, age or sex, to die or live as the Hibakusha.

In the “Message to the World” issued at the founding of Nihon Hidankyo in 1956, we declared “our will to save humanity from its crisis through the lessons learned from our experiences, while at the same time saving ourselves”, and to date have continued our work without giving up. Now we can see a path to achieve what we have pledged in our declaration. We the Hibakusha will continue to play the role of the “public conscience” by conveying the inhuman consequences caused by nuclear weapons to the people of the world through the lessons learned from our experiences, and to work to achieve a peaceful world without nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons were invented by humans. They were also used by humans. Then it should be humans that can abolish them. Until the day when all nuclear weapons will be abolished, let us continue to work together with our fellow civil society members.

Japan Gensuikyo

We Warmly Welcome the Adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

July 8, 2017
Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Gensuikyo)

1. On July 7, the U.N. conference to negotiate a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons concluded all its agenda and adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons with the overwhelming majority support: 122 countries voted in favor, 1 against and 1 abstention.

In its Preamble the Treaty denounces the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, and reaffirms the need to completely eliminate them, as the only way to guarantee that there be no more damage caused by these weapons. The Treaty is epoch-making: Its Article 1 prohibits all activities involving nuclear weapons, including to “develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile”, “use or threaten to use”, “transfer”, or station, install or deploy these weapons.

Japan Gensuikyo, as the organization that has worked together with the Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki since its founding in 1955, to reach the basic goals of preventing nuclear war, totally banning and eliminating nuclear weapons and supporting and extending solidarity with the Hibakusha, warmly welcomes the adoption of the Treaty, and expresses its deep appreciation to the United Nations, national governments and all members of the civil society who have worked to achieve this shared goal.

2. Upon adoption, the Treaty will be made open for signature to all States as from September 20, 2017. This will call into question the position of each Member State toward this issue. As was emphasized by many during the negotiation conference, the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons is a task bearing on the survival of humanity, which goes far beyond the realm of general question of disarmament.

We sincerely call on all State governments, whether nuclear-armed or non-nuclear, to support and sign the Treaty and take measures for the ratification, so as to ensure its early entry into force.

Above all, we urge the government of Japan, the only country to have suffered the consequences of the atomic bombing, to sign the treaty without delay, and further act to call on all other governments, including of nuclear-armed States, to sign it so that a nuclear weapon-free world will be attained even a day earlier.

3. To achieve the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons, it is a vital task for both governments and citizens to express their will and act for it. We call on everyone all around the world who wants a world without nuclear weapons to join us and sign the “International Appeal of the Hibakusha” which calls for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons.